Dreams
by Nighte Thief
Summary: Ryou has a nightmare and seeks reassurance.


_**Dreams**_

_**A/N: **_This is **not** RyouxBakura. It's just a friendship/family type thing! It's a bonding moment! Understood? Excellent. That out of the way, enjoy! Also! This story is rated T cause I'm paranoid. XD

_**Disclaimer:**_I am not rich enough to own YGO.

_He walked through a dark hall, searching for something, for someone. For who or what, he didn't know, but he knew that it was precious to him, very precious. It was something he didn't want to lose._

_It seemed to him that he walked forever, but got nowhere. There was only a grey light to illuminate his path, and all the walls were bare, leaving no hint as to if he had passed by this place before._

_Eventually, when he was about to lose hope, he reached a large set of oaken double doors at the end of the long hall. He reached out a pale hand, but before he touched the metal door handle, they swung open, allowing him entrance. He passed through, entering a huge room. Massive windows lined one side of the room, the other wall bear. Silver moonlight lit the room, allowing him to see what populated the room._

_A lone figure lay on the wooden floor, a pool of dark liquid surrounding them. They were hidden by the shadows, features masked by the darkness. He felt compelled to go see who it was, so he crossed the room. As he drew nearer, he saw long white hair spread out on the floor, and a sinking feeling made itself at home in his stomach. He began to walk faster, soon falling to his knees in the scarlet puddle that surrounded the figure, that surrounded Bakura._

"_No," he said softly, tears beginning to flow freely down his face. "No..." He ran his fingers over the cool skin of his darker self's face. "Why... Why?" He began to sob in earnest. His closest friend was dead. A heartbroken scream tore itself from his throat as he threw his head back and cried his anguish to the uncaring heavens..._

Ryou awoke himself with his cry of fear and sadness. Tears were pouring down his cheeks, and his body was wracked with sobs. He sat up slowly, trying to calm himself, forcing himself to breathe evenly. It was just a dream, nothing more, nothing less. It wasn't real. He wiped some of the salty liquid off his face as he swung his legs over the side of his bed, getting to his feet. Even though he tried to convince himself that it hadn't really happened, he felt the need to go make sure that he was right.

Opening his bedroom door, he stepped out into the dimly lit hall. It made him think of his nightmare, and his heart began to pound. Maybe when he got to Bakura's room he'd find-

No. He stopped that train of thought. Bakura was alive, and that was that. It just a bad dream.

He walked the five feet down the hall that it took to reach Bakura's bedroom door, and, pushing it open, found that the thief was awake, and had been about to open the door himself.

"Ryou?" the thief asked, appearing concerned and not a little confused. "Are you all right? I heard you shout a few minutes ago..."

Ryou looked down at his feet, embarrassed. "It's nothing."

Bakura gave him a searching look. "You were crying, weren't you?"

Ryou turned his head away from the former spirit. "N-no," he mumbled, beginning to head back to his room. He felt so _stupid_! Why had he even thought about going to see if Bakura was OK?

A hand closed around his wrist, stopping him short. "Hey, Ryou, if something's wrong you can tell me."

Tears began to fall again, tracing their way down Ryou's already tearstained cheeks. He was still shaken from his dream, and that little sentence was all it took to make him sob again.

Bakura pulled Ryou into his bedroom, leading him over to the bed where the two sat, Ryou crying quietly, sobs shaking his slim frame. He felt an arm go around his shoulders and pull him close. "I don't know what happened, Ryou, but if you want to tell me, I'll listen." Ryou sobbed harder; he didn't know why he was so upset, but the tears wouldn't stop falling.

Eventually, he forced himself to calm down enough to talk. He told Bakura all about the dream, all that had happened. When he reached the part where he saw Bakura lying on the floor dead, his voice caught, but he managed to get the whole story out before he broke down again.

There was a few moments of silence as Bakura digested what he had heard. "Oh, Ryou," he said softly. "It's all right, I'm alive. I'm here." He pulled the shaking boy into a tight hug, tears staining his shirt. He held him until the tears stopped falling and he calmed down, his breathing evening out. Pulling back slightly, enough to see Ryou's face, he said, "See? It's all right." He smiled softly at the smaller boy.

Ryou was in shock. His darker half had hugged him, held him while he cried. It was as if Bakura was his family, his older brother of sorts. It was so unexpected; he had never thought that Bakura had a softer side like this. He had been kind to Ryou, yes, but nothing like this. Nothing ever like this. He wanted to ask why Bakura was acting this way, but instead he said, "I'm sorry if I woke you earlier..."

Bakura laughed, really laughed, the sound deep in his chest. "It's all right - I hadn't fallen asleep yet."

Ryou managed a weak smile, exhaustion washing over him. It was the middle of the night, and all the crying had worn him out. He yawned, leaning up against Bakura again, his darker half's arms still around him in a warm embrace. "Sorry," he mumbled, yawning again. He was so tired, but he felt so safe and warm with Bakura. He didn't want to leave.

He made a move to get up, by Bakura tightened his embrace, holding him still. "You can sleep here, if you want," the former spirit offered.

Ryou smiled sleepily, nodding. He felt to safe in Bakura's embrace, as if nothing bad could touch him. It was a good feeling, one he hadn't had since he was a young child, before he knew the evil in the world.

He felt Bakura shift slightly, laying the two of them down, but the thief never moved his arms from where they were, holding Ryou his lighter half close. Ryou snuggled close to the thief, his figurative older brother, the one person he knew would protect him, even if they fought, argued, and ignored each other sometimes. Brothers did that, but that didn't mean that they stopped caring about each other.

Bakura sighed, Ryou feeling the movement of his chest. The former spirit imperceptibly tightened his embrace on the slim British teen, hearing his breathing slow and deepen, letting the thief know that he had fallen asleep. Bakura smiled, closing his eyes. The boy he thought of as his younger brother was so very sweet and gentle. The ancient spirit would do whatever it took to protect him, and try his best to heal any hurt that came to the boy, be it physical or emotional.

Allowing himself to relax, Bakura drifted off, following Ryou into the land of dreams.

_Fin._


End file.
